Doing a search on SAYellow is easy. Simply type one or more search terms  (the words or phrase that best describe the information you want to find), and the area or area code (leave blank if you're uncertain of the area) into the search box and hit the Search button or the Enter on your keyboard.

You can enter any one or combination of these types of search terms:

• Looking for a specific business (search by company name):
  Type the name of the company or part thereof in the search box and the area or area code,
  
  eg. standard bank randburg or
         standard bank 011

• Choosing the right search terms is the key to finding the information you need. It's often advisable to use multiple search terms
  
  (for example: if you're planning a vacation in Cape Town and you're looking for self-catering accommodation, you'll do better with "self catering accommodation cape town" than with either "accommodation" or "Cape Town" by themselves,
  
  eg. self catering accommodation cape town, or
        self catering accommodation 021

• Search for a business by phone number (Reverse lookup)
  
  eg. 012 3456789

• To search for inclusive and exclusive words use + and/or -,
  
  eg. +motor -repair

In response, SAYellow produces a results page: a list of companies related to your search terms, with the most relevant page appearing first, then the next, and so on. For more information on search results, click here.

Refining your Search

If the search term you entered in the What box returns a long list of results, you may want to refine your search to decrease the number of results. The Search Results page offers a number of functions to help you accomplish this:

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How do I find email addresses, website addresses or fax numbers numbers?

Many of our advertisers supply this type of information with their own listings. If this information is provided to us, it will be located next to their business name.

What if no matching listings are found?

There are several reasons why the service may find no matching listings even when you have reason to believe there probably are some listings:

• The name of the Keyword you typed may not be recognised. Try again using a synonym.
• Something may have been misspelled. Correct any spelling mistakes and search again.
• Abbreviations are not recognised, so be sure that all words are spelled out in full and then search again.

A search by city does not locate the listing I'm looking for

Some commonly abbreviated city names, such as JHB, must be spelled out, e.g. Johannesburg.

Capitalization
SAYellow searches are NOT case sensitive. All letters, regardless of how you type them, will be understood as lower case. For example, searches for "standard "bank, "Standard Bank", "STANDARD BANK", and "sTaNdArD bAnK" will all return the same results.

Most recent searches
The Search box keeps track of your 10 most recent search terms in a drop-down menu so you don't have to re-enter information when you repeat a search.

Tips when Searching for a business name
Entering a partial name will supply all businesses starting with your input. For example if you request a business Stan the results will include among others; Standard Bank and Stans Furniture.
 
You can add an * in front of a word to include all business names that partially match your input. For example, any of the following entries (among others) could be used in the Business Name field to find Jack and Jill Water Features: Jack and Jill *Water, or *Jill.

It is usually best to omit the generic parts of business names, like Company, Incorporated, or (Pty) Ltd.

Narrowing your search to a specific location
By entering a location is one of the best ways to narrow down your search to a specific area.